Momentum operator

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In quantum mechanics, the momentum operator is the operator associated with the linear momentum. The momentum operator is, in the position representation, an example of a differential operator. For the case of one particle in one spatial dimension, the definition is: p ^ = − i ℏ ∂ ∂ x {\displaystyle {\hat {p}}=-i\hbar {\frac {\partial }{\partial x}}} where ħ is the reduced Planck constant, i the imaginary unit, x is the spatial coordinate, and a partial derivative (denoted by ∂ / ∂ x {\displaystyle \partial /\partial x} ) is used instead of a total derivative (d/dx) since the wave function is also a function of time. The "hat" indicates an...

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